"We're going to ask for the restitution of this statue in light of what has happened," Culture Minister Faruq Hosni told reporters.

Hosni said he had asked Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher to send a formal protest to the German government, slamming the fusion of the bust with a statue by the Egyptian Museum at Berlin-Charlottenburg as scientifically "unethical."

He added that Egypt had long put its good ties with Germany above its desire for the bust to be returned -- until now. ..."